Probate, no answer

[Oliver Hardy]

I have applied for probate for my late mother, no tax to pay, not heard anything for months, emailed several times now and wrote to them asking for a progrrss report and if i need to do something else, but they have not response back, just ignored me.

Need some advice.

[Tony1963]

Can you call them and talk to a human?

[over_the_hill]

After I got things in order and paid the IHT for my late sister it took a further six months to get Probate.
Although this was during Covid so possibly delaying things more than now.

[dontlookdown]

Just about to submit the forms for my Mum's probate. Solicitor tells me it is taking at least 6 months to grant currently. There is quite a backlog for all the usual 'reasons' it seems, as per passports, driving licences etc.

[megaphone]

Same issue getting an LPA, took 6 months. Not surprised, with half of civil servants reportedly still working from home.

[Techno9000]

I applied just before Easter and remember reading on the .gov website that 16 weeks to the grant of Probate was the guideline.

[ThunderSpook]

After 16 weeks they will talk to you quite helpfully, and escalate it if necessary. Just call them. Usually takes around 20-30 minutes to get through to a person but it’s worth it because they’re quite helpful.

[Sheepshanks]

over_the_hill said:

After I got things in order and paid the IHT for my late sister it took a further six months to get Probate.
Although this was during Covid so possibly delaying things more than now.

Did one right at the beginning of Covid, so perhaps the calm before the storm, but it was done within a month.

[davek_964]

When I handled my mothers estate (almost exactly 10 years ago) - I phoned HMRC to ask some questions about probate. The person I spoke to asked whether there would be IHT - I said no. He said : In that case, you don't need probate.

So I didn't. For each organisation I had to deal with (banks etc.) they asked whether probate was complete, and I said that since the estate did not meet the threshold for IHT, there was no probate. It didn't cause an issue with anything.

I've seen plenty of posts on here suggesting that perhaps probate should have taken place, but HMRC told me not to bother, and I didn't need it.

[dontlookdown]

davek_964 said:

When I handled my mothers estate (almost exactly 10 years ago) - I phoned HMRC to ask some questions about probate. The person I spoke to asked whether there would be IHT - I said no. He said : In that case, you don't need probate.

So I didn't. For each organisation I had to deal with (banks etc.) they asked whether probate was complete, and I said that since the estate did not meet the threshold for IHT, there was no probate. It didn't cause an issue with anything.

I've seen plenty of posts on here suggesting that perhaps probate should have taken place, but HMRC told me not to bother, and I didn't need it.

Interesting. You do need probate if there are any non-cash assets that have to be valued. Property etc. The logic being that without recognised valuations it's not possible to determine the full value of the estate and thus whether IHT will be payable.

Also, financial institutions all have their own thresholds. My mum's bank didn't require probate because she had less than 12k on deposit. She had a significant sum with NS&I however so we do need probate for that, and for her property.

[chopper602]

A work colleague has just had probate completed on his father in laws estate. No IHT, few assets (a cheap terraced house in the North East) and it took 21 weeks from start to finish, needed a couple of phone calls to get across the line. There is no reason, for simple cases to take this long.

[Sheepshanks]

davek_964 said:

When I handled my mothers estate (almost exactly 10 years ago) - I phoned HMRC to ask some questions about probate. The person I spoke to asked whether there would be IHT - I said no. He said : In that case, you don't need probate.

So I didn't. For each organisation I had to deal with (banks etc.) they asked whether probate was complete, and I said that since the estate did not meet the threshold for IHT, there was no probate. It didn't cause an issue with anything.

I've seen plenty of posts on here suggesting that perhaps probate should have taken place, but HMRC told me not to bother, and I didn't need it.

Hmmm... I've administered estates three time - none have been liable for IHT but all needed Probate.

In two cases due to house sales, but in my Mum's case it was just the amount of cash she had in the bank. There was supposed to be a move to get banks to be more willing to release cash without probate but I think once you get to around £20K (it may be more since I last did it) you probably need it. IIRC anything invoving NS&I (savings, premium bonds etc) needs Probate over £5K.

[Halmyre]

Sheepshanks said:

davek_964 said:

When I handled my mothers estate (almost exactly 10 years ago) - I phoned HMRC to ask some questions about probate. The person I spoke to asked whether there would be IHT - I said no. He said : In that case, you don't need probate.

So I didn't. For each organisation I had to deal with (banks etc.) they asked whether probate was complete, and I said that since the estate did not meet the threshold for IHT, there was no probate. It didn't cause an issue with anything.

I've seen plenty of posts on here suggesting that perhaps probate should have taken place, but HMRC told me not to bother, and I didn't need it.

Hmmm... I've administered estates three time - none have been liable for IHT but all needed Probate.

In two cases due to house sales, but in my Mum's case it was just the amount of cash she had in the bank. There was supposed to be a move to get banks to be more willing to release cash without probate but I think once you get to around £20K (it may be more since I last did it) you probably need it. IIRC anything invoving NS&I (savings, premium bonds etc) needs Probate over £5K.

Same here, had to get probate for banks, premium bonds and investments, even though the total estate was well within the IHT threshold. This was in Scotland so maybe different from England/Wales.

What was annoying that, although below the IHT threshold, it was above the Sherrifdom's small estate threshold so the fee was considerably larger.

Took about six weeks in total, although I did chase them up and it turned out my application had been mislaid.

[alscar]

I think LBC ( Life Before Covid ) meant that most things requiring people to work at a desk most of the time for just got handled a lot quicker.
HMG departments in particular seem to have embraced WFH without the commensurate IT required to actually do the “W”part.

[Neil1300r]

Just applied via the Solicitor . She said 20 working days for HMRC to agree on no IHT. We are just under the limit. Then average of 16 weeks for probate, but it is an average. According to our solicitor who is a probate specialist.

[davek_964]

Halmyre said:

Sheepshanks said:

davek_964 said:

When I handled my mothers estate (almost exactly 10 years ago) - I phoned HMRC to ask some questions about probate. The person I spoke to asked whether there would be IHT - I said no. He said : In that case, you don't need probate.

So I didn't. For each organisation I had to deal with (banks etc.) they asked whether probate was complete, and I said that since the estate did not meet the threshold for IHT, there was no probate. It didn't cause an issue with anything.

I've seen plenty of posts on here suggesting that perhaps probate should have taken place, but HMRC told me not to bother, and I didn't need it.

Hmmm... I've administered estates three time - none have been liable for IHT but all needed Probate.

In two cases due to house sales, but in my Mum's case it was just the amount of cash she had in the bank. There was supposed to be a move to get banks to be more willing to release cash without probate but I think once you get to around £20K (it may be more since I last did it) you probably need it. IIRC anything invoving NS&I (savings, premium bonds etc) needs Probate over £5K.

Same here, had to get probate for banks, premium bonds and investments, even though the total estate was well within the IHT threshold. This was in Scotland so maybe different from England/Wales.

What was annoying that, although below the IHT threshold, it was above the Sherrifdom's small estate threshold so the fee was considerably larger.

Took about six weeks in total, although I did chase them up and it turned out my application had been mislaid.

Curious. My mum did have some investments - in fact the majority of her estate was that (although the estate was not large, and under 6 figures in total). But nobody seemed to want probate.

[Sheepshanks]

davek_964 said:

Curious. My mum did have some investments - in fact the majority of her estate was that (although the estate was not large, and under 6 figures in total). But nobody seemed to want probate.

Some of the things I dealt with with were odd, for instance, my mum had one of those old friendly society life assurance policies - it had been taken over by another company. I called the new company and they sent me a cheque based on my call, which I was gobsmacked about.

Yet several other organisations wouldn't even talk to me without seeing the death cert and Probate Grant. Her bank wanted the original Will.

[davek_964]

Sheepshanks said:

davek_964 said:

Curious. My mum did have some investments - in fact the majority of her estate was that (although the estate was not large, and under 6 figures in total). But nobody seemed to want probate.

Some of the things I dealt with with were odd, for instance, my mum had one of those old friendly society life assurance policies - it had been taken over by another company. I called the new company and they sent me a cheque based on my call, which I was gobsmacked about.

Yet several other organisations wouldn't even talk to me without seeing the death cert and Probate Grant. Her bank wanted the original Will.

From memory, I think I handed out plenty of death certificates - but don't think I had to show anybody the will.

[Halmyre]

Sheepshanks said:

davek_964 said:

Curious. My mum did have some investments - in fact the majority of her estate was that (although the estate was not large, and under 6 figures in total). But nobody seemed to want probate.

Some of the things I dealt with with were odd, for instance, my mum had one of those old friendly society life assurance policies - it had been taken over by another company. I called the new company and they sent me a cheque based on my call, which I was gobsmacked about.

Yet several other organisations wouldn't even talk to me without seeing the death cert and Probate Grant. Her bank wanted the original Will.

Asking to see the will is petty nitpicking. If you've got probate then the will has been verified by a higher authority than some bank clerk.

Problem with my mum's will is that it had been signed with a black gel pen. It was extremely difficult to distinguish between the original and any subsequent photocopies; I had to convince the probate office that, yes, that is the original.

[Sheepshanks]

Halmyre said:

Asking to see the will is petty nitpicking. If you've got probate then the will has been verified by a higher authority than some bank clerk.

It would have been early on, before Probate was done. I remember being slightly alarmed by the demand but it was dealt with in branch - although I wasn't even happy about the lady wandering off with it to take a copy.

I can't remember the reason now - I presume they want to see Executors names.